8/29/15

Hi guys!
So much going on right now! I survived my first real week of work at the new job! Still getting used to the 11+ hour days (ouch my feet!), but the three days off during the week will surely be a nice perk once I get used to it. On top of the new job, we are also moving to a new town nearby next week, as our landlord has decided to sell our house. It's definitely bittersweet, but I'm always up for a new adventure!

A couple weeks ago, the sweet people over at Happiness Boutique reached out to me to see if I wanted to style one of their beautiful pieces of statement jewelry. They are a cute vintage-inspired company based out of Germany and once I took a look at their site I couldn't wait to pick something out! I was having a hard time choosing between all of the pretty styles so I even asked R to help me pick a favorite, and this is the one that ultimately won out.

The awesome thing about statement necklaces like this is you can literally be wearing jeans and a white tee and just add this and you will instantly feel more unique and put together! I'm also wearing one of the awesome hand-drawn temporary tattoos from the Etsy shop Siideways Tattoos. I've been having so much fun playing around with them and testing out all of the beautiful vintage floral styles.

Anyway, please bear with me in these next two weeks while I attempt to move, get the hang of my new job, and get my life a bit more settled! As always, thanks for reading!
xo Hannah

8/20/15

I'm back from my Miami trip, which I hope to post some photos of soon. More importantly, I just started my new job and am training all week so I haven't really had time to post! Luckily I had this little outfit saved from before I left on my trip.

The new job is going well so far (how can it not when puppies and kittens are involved)?! I hope to get back to more normal posting soon, but for now I am just trying to figure out my schedule and keep my head above water! I hope all is well with you guys and thanks for sticking around even when I have been bad with providing any good content around here lately!

8/10/15

Hi guys! Well, a lot has happened in the last week. Most of you who have read my blog for awhile probably know that I am quite the animal lover - cats especially! Which is why I am super excited to be starting a new job next week as an adoption specialist for the humane society! Its going to be so amazing to help animals find their new forever homes, and I am going to do my best to not bring them all home with me.

This past week I have been trying out these beautiful vintage floral temporary tattoos from fellow Etsy seller Siideways. The sweet shop owner Elizabeth hand draws, paints, or digitally designs each one herself. I do not have any permanent tattoos myself but have always really loved them, and this is such a cool way to try something out for a few days with no commitment! She has so many beautiful vintage floral designs, which are my personal favorite. This is the one I am wearing here! And how cute is this new one she just designed with a kitten with roses- definitely next on my wishlist! Everyone at the new job would definitely thing I'm legit if I roll in with a kitten tattoo! You can even get custom designs made for special occasions, which is so cool! If you end up trying one for yourself, let me know, I want to see which one is your favorite!

So when the new job confirmed that I will start next week, I immediately went into my typical wanderlust mode and bought a ticket for a last minute trip to Miami. I leave tomorrow! I will be visiting a good friend from high school who I have seriously promised to visit for the last TEN years since she moved out there to go to college. Can't wait to lay in the sunshine for a few days, get dressed up, and eat tacos! Does anyone have any favorite places/ recommendations?
xo Hannah

8/6/15

Hi guys! Today I am super excited to introduce you to Leslie and Lex, the designers behind awesome fashion brand Blackberry Maverick, for my first edition of a new blog series called Meet the Maker! They are the makers of the beautiful dress from my last post, and they happen to have just relocated their shop nearby in Denver as well, which I can't wait to go check out in person soon. I got the chance to "chat" with them about their making process, inspirations, and a what goes on behind the scenes of Blackberry Maverick, so without further adieu...

Q. Hi Leslie and Lex! Thanks so much for joining my Meet the Maker series! First off, can you tell us the story of how Blackberry Maverick got started?A. Lex and I met through a mutual friend at a nightclub. We were supposed to be hanging with a crew, but instead we stayed in the corner smoking cigarettes and talking about the possibility of Blackberry Maverick until the lights came on:) we agreed to sketch some designs and meet back up in a couple weeks to see if our visions would mesh and ended up pulling out the same sketches. Knowing it was meant to be, in May 2013, Blackberry Maverick was born.

Q. Is there any meaning behind the name of your shop?A. Blackberry: To us, this represents a nostalgic symbol of enduring struggle and pursuit of happiness.The quest for and enjoyment of the blackberry are symbols of the elusive force that drives us toward the sweet goal at the end of a perilous journey.Mav·er·ick: Is an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party. We are not afraid to challenge the laws of conformity and believe in pursuing a dream with a free and fearless spirit. We are not afraid to be rebellious and define our own meaning of fashion.

Q. What does a typical "day in the life" in your studio look like?A.A typical day, ay? I don't think that exists, haha. Lex is a day worker and I am a night owl and we overlap the hours in between. Each day there's the computer stuff, emails, social media, research, etc., then some sort of creativity depending on what we are inspired to work on. Lex is doing lots of custom stuff lately and I have been building our space. We like to put on tunes and see where the space will take us. If we have deadlines we put the metal down and take care of business. But mostly it is consistently a whirl of creativity and creation. A lot of times will work on projects together, giving each other advice and picking up where the other one left off. We do our best work when we're both working together but, sometimes that isn't possible as we have to go to our respective waitress jobs at the moment in order to make rent.

Q. What are your top two favorite pieces from your S/S 2015 Collection "Stormy Sweets"? A. Leslie: Flash (double zip neckline, pencil dress) and Sugarcloud (jumper). Lexi: Bolt (high waisted pedal pusher pants) and Strike (high waisted overall skirt) For our consumers I love Puff Pastry (kimono top pencil skirt dress) because it looks great on everyone!Q. What time of day do you find you are most productive and inspired? Would you say you are an early bird or a night owl?A. I'm totally a night owl. One of the biggest things about this move was making sure we found the right space where I can be up all night playing music loud and sewing clothing, not having to worry about bothering the neighbors. A lot of the time though it doesn't really matter the time of day its more how I feel. Like Lex can be in her groove and pulling out stuff and I'll see something that interests me and it will inspire me to start working too and vice versa. I Am so much more productive during the day, when the sun is shinning and the world is moving. I feel like I have a whole day of possibilities ahead of me.

Q. What is your favorite summertime drink and treat?A.Well my nickname is meat, haha, for a lotta reasons but one reason being I love to eat it! Definitely BBQ for days, and a good burger with an egg on top is always awesome (even if its like at 11 in the morning for breakfast). Recently I've been into the day old bottle of wine, you know the one that you crack at like 8 at night and take a few sips from the bottle and then leave it? Then I finish it off in the evening the next day right as I'm getting into work mode:) Fruit is like one of the only things I crave when it is hot and I will go out of my way to find some good blackberries, lol it's the principle of the matter! Whiskey sours are my summer drink, I'm a whiskey girl in general but sours remind me of being back at lake Berryessa in California.

Q. You guys just relocated your shop from Colorado Springs to Denver. What are some of your favorite new hangouts or things to in Denver?A. Besides designing, I live to eat! One of the most exciting things about being in Denver for me are the dining possibilities! I've become a regular at the Breakfast King. Jenny and Shelly are awesome and the kings omelette has been a staple at least a couple nights (morning's?) a week. I also have fallen in love with Euclid hall, the pad Thai pig ears are to die for! In terms of activities, I recently was given a "jammy pack", a fanny pack with a speaker system built in and have been rollerblading around, exploring the neighborhood while rockin out to some tunes:) I just found all the fun rockabilly/ swing bars on Broadway, specifically the Skylark. I love bars that can pull off excentric gritty diviness! I have two dogs so I spend alot of time walking around and exploring our awesome neighborhood. I am consistently awed by the Denver skyline, we are right by Elitches and seeing that at night evokes a really deep appreciation for this city and what it represents for our company's accomplishments.

Q.What other clothing shops or designers are you most inspired by?A. Definitely Mary Katrantzou, her prints are epic, and I love the structure of her garments. Also, this chic from the UK, who goes by, "ByMisha". She creates collections based on fantasy worlds she is inspired by and uses super ingenuitive fabric combinations. I love all things vintage, doesn't matter the designer if it has a vintage flare I love it!

Q. Lastly, what is the very best part of your job?A. Being in the zone creating a vision and making it tangible. Building something based off the energy of who its made for and then watching them get into it and feel confident and sexy and beautiful. Being around the most inspiring people I know and relishing in the joy of doing what I love to do more than anything. Same. Waking up every morning excited to be alive with a purpose in life. Being able to genuinely say that even on the hard days I am truly following my passion. In a smaller scale- buttons!!! lol. The best gift in the world to me is cool buttons!

Thank you so much to Lex and Leslie for giving us a behind the scenes peak into their amazing clothing line! And for those Colorado local readers, they are having a super fun grand opening party at their new Denver location on August 20th, which you can find the event details on their facebook page here!

Hope you all are having an awesome week so far!

xo Hannah

p.s. If you guys have any recommendations for what you would like to see in future Meet the Maker posts, please let me know! What questions would you like to ask your favorite makers or brands?!

8/3/15

A real blog post on a Monday morning... guys, its a miracle! Today I am super excited to introduce you to a new favorite local shop of mine called Blackberry Maverick. Its a shop that perfectly blends the classic vintage feel of the 50s with the boldness of the 80s, all meticulously handmade for the modern day gal by two lovely ladies in Denver!

So let's talk about the dress! I couldn't resist this floaty ethereal number from their S/S 2015 collection "Stormy Sweets". I love how this dress is kind of the best of both worlds combining a mini length lining with a maxi length silhouette. With evening clouds rolling in behind the sugary pink and purple colorblocked color palette, I think these photos totally ended up going along well with the "Stormy Sweets" theme too! My perfect dress is one where I feel pretty, but most importantly, comfortable in, and this definitely fit the bill. Later this week I'll be back to introduce you to Lex and Leslie, the awesome gals behind Blackberry Maverickso stay tuned!